Guided walk date - 31/10/09
We were lucky with the weather, which always helps. After a lovely autumn day, it was really warm and pleasant in the sun, the forecast for the evening and night was a deteriorating one and it was a matter of how quickly the depression and associated frontal system was approaching.
We met at Ingram Bridge car park just before sunset and set off. The aim was not to use any artificial light for the first hour or so to give our night vision time to adjust. It worked really well. As it was only two days before the new moon it was nearly full (94%) and the initially clear skies assisted out progress, by the time it was fully dark we could all see our shadows cast by the moonshine (not alcohol).
We left the track and spread out to locate the remains of an excavated cairn and learnt about the importance of silhouettes in identifying features at night. On to the hillfort of Wether Hill, another site identified by its silhouette but we also “felt” is lumps and bumps as we crossed the outer and inner walls. On ards and upwards to the top of Cochrane Pike, our highest point at 335m/1000ft, to orientate ourselves by the navigation lights on the mast on top of Sandyford Moor (to the NE) and the Radar Station at RAF Brizlee Wood near Alnwick (to the E).
Tonight provided another “first” for me. I always encourage participants to have a look at our route on the free version of Google Earth when they return home. Two people, who will remain nameless, had this application on their mobile phones and we stood on top of Cochrane Pike looking at aerial views of it and Whether Hill. We lost the signal at Lumsden Hill which was a relief as how would I explain an injury to a client who was following his progress on his phone but fell over and injured himself in the process?
The cloud over the Cheviots to the west was beginning to build but we all got a good view of The Plough constellation and followed the “pointers” to locate Polaris, the Pole Star and were able to relate it to the position of the mast and radar station using handspans – it worked! There was a bit of rain in the wind as we descended towards Lumsden Hill and it was a bit chilly but then it happened. Standing with our backs to the moon we saw a very pale moonbow to the west which strengthened as we watched it so that we could discern very pale colours at one end. The unexpected and spontaneous things are always the best and none of the clients had ever seen a moonbow before. The Collie that accompanied us might have done but wasn’t saying. A refreshment stop was declared to celebrate but not too long as people cooled-off quickly. This was another lesson learned about having the right kit with you “just in case.”
We set-off for Middle Dean to discover how difficult it can be to judge distance and slope angles even using artificial light. There was more cloud now but the higher cloud deck of wispy cirrus really showed-off the pale pastel shades caused by iridescence when they passed across the moon’s illuminated disc. What a contrast to the pitch blackness of the steep-sided Middle Dean valley, the pace needed to be a lot slower here. By now everyone was much more adjusted and at ease in the darkness and quite surprised by how much they could actually see, they were adept at spotting and circumventing “the wet and boggy bits.” So far we’d been using simple navigational techniques but now we struck off across the moorland towards Brough Law hillfort nearly two kilometres away. We’d spent the last hour out of sight of any habitation but as we walked north farmsteads to the east and an isolated one to the west became visible. We inspected the 360° “view” from Brough Law before descending to the valley road for the short walk back to the cars.
A memorable night out in good company, lots of laughs along the way and hopefully we all learnt something new - and it good fun.
Guide - Richard Holmes
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